Written in the Stars
by hurrrrrr
Summary: Chelsea Donovan didn't really believe in a plan, the thing that made her life turn out the way it had; a 25-year-old with an Astronomy Doctorate and no one but herself. That was, until, she found herself on an island to research, and found herself gazing at more than stars...Chelsea/Vaughn, slight Chelsea/Will, you'll see what I mean! Rated T for swearing.


**A/N: This story is completely based around the song 'Science and Faith' by the Script. So enjoy, and please review! :)**

**CHAPTER ONE: MEANT TO BE **

Chelsea Donovan could never have said that her life was written out for her, ready to be lived. Sure, she believed in God and that he had her life planned, but her parents never had a plan for her and she never felt as if she was obliged to do a certain thing. Oh no - she was just thrown into school and told to do what she did best.

In her case, this thing was the sciences. She loved exploring and finding things, particularly outside, from right when she was six years old and used to catch caterpillars and watch them grow into butterflies, when she was 8 and she did that science planet on the planets that actually moved around (credit to her dad the electrician), and also in her teens, when she decided that she'd like to do something that involved science when she was 18. She wanted to go to university and study a science, Physics in particular. From there she could go down any path she wanted to, and she knew that eventually, it would happen.

This idea that things were put there for you because you had already worked out the plan was somewhat theoretical, if you thought about it like that. Which Chelsea did. She knew that if she pinned all her hopes and dreams on it being 'the plan' then she would never have gotten anywhere in life. No, she had to do it herself, not rely on her 'plan'. She had to make her own plan, really, and if she wanted to do that then she had to decide what route in life she wanted to take before chances passed her by. She had to be ready when opportunity knocked.

And she was. When she saw an opening for an Astronomy course in Eireann University, she took it. She had the qualifications, the interest in the field, and the wits - this was opportunity knocking her door hundreds of times over, just to make sure she could hear it, and even shouting her name. She couldn't just wait for the next offer. She applied, went to the interview, took the entrance test, and three months later, Chelsea Donovan was an official student of the Astronomy course.

Of course, not everything is easy, least not University level topics. She found herself weighed down with work, unable to find time to do much else, but she loved it. So when she came home from university every night, ate her TV dinner, had a shower, did her work and fell asleep, only to do the same thing the next day, it didn't feel like a massive loss to her. The thing she often missed out on was outside. Sure she had friends in University, sure she had boyfriends from time to time, but she wasn't as outdoorsy as she thought she could have been. So when the lecture notes got so easy to learn the course became easy, and after 6 long hard years of working she finally earned her PhD, she decided the place to go would be outside. Outside where she could research by looking at the stars and not just sitting behind a desk, where she could fully enjoy life and her job. The funding was there. Her skills were there. This was what she needed.

Walking along outside her university where she might have lectured had she not seen the sign, said sign was posted on the bulletin board, right in the middle, so easy to miss but so hard if you were as observant as Chelsea. It was advertising a ranch that needed cleaned up and would be sold for a next to nothing price. Why it was on the bulletin board she did not know. Perhaps it was part of the plan. Maybe she was meant to see it. Whatever the reason, she found herself taking it off the board and bringing it to the head of department. He told her about the amazing opportunities for stargazing out there, and she was intrigued. It was outdoors. It was real. It was her...

She bought the ranch and everything on it. Paid for the house to be upgraded, paid for the boat fare, paid for all her equipment to be brought with her too. She'd have to work from 7-12 on clear nights, and she'd probably have a small job during the day. Running errands and shipping things off earned small amounts of money, and because the residents were so delighted with someone buying the farm they were happy to help out. It really was the best thing.

So now, stood on the platform ready to hop off the boat with three suitcases and a hell of a lot of equipment, her mind finally succumbed to the idea of a plan, a way of being present in the world because you had purpose. It seemed to fit right, because she'd found that poster and she'd found herself here, doing the thing she loved in the place she loved. It was like it was meant to be.


End file.
